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13 February 2012

I'm still alive

This "new mom" business is kicking my tail. What nobody ever will tell you is that newborns are pretty boring. I feel like a milk machine, and that's about it. B pretty much forces me to sleep when she's sleeping, unless I'm eating. So I basically blog-stalk while I'm nursing her, but I haven't quite figured out how to type while doing that. I also need to thank the good Lord for TV shows online. That's what gets me through the feeding sessions at night. We originally were going to put the bassinet next to the bed in our room, but instead we have it in the living room outside our door, and I just get up in the middle of the night and feed her in the nursery. I have a comfy glider in there, and I can watch shows on my laptop without disturbing the husband. The lack of sleep combined with all the hormonal changes has definitely affected me emotionally, and we're hoping it gets better once I can sleep more than 2-3 hours in a stretch.

B is actually in DC all this week for his monthly trip (although usually it's only 3 days). His mother is here to help me out this week, and it remains to be seen whether this is a good thing or not. She's keeping me eating healthy, which is definitely a plus. We're working on getting out of the house once a day because I've definitely been cooped up here. Of course now the weather has taken a turn for the cold, and I hate the cold! It's probably not here for too long though (and it's still sunny regardless), so maybe some stroller walks are in the near future.

One thing I forgot to mention in the birth story is that Cora was born with her hand up by her face. I didn't even know that was possible (it's called "compound hand"), and I didn't even find out until the next day when my doctor came by for a visit. Well, I guess because of that she loves to always have her hands up by her face all the time. As long as we swaddle her that way, she actually falls asleep pretty fast. I guess, all in all, she's a pretty good baby. She needs to stop using my boob as a pacifier, but that's my one complaint. I'm holding out another week to introduce actual pacifiers and bottles to her. I've been back and forth to the hospital a ton since coming home because her weight was really unsteady. But we had an appointment today, and she is finally above her birth weight. Sigh of relief.

As for me, I've already lost 20 pounds! That means I'm less than 10 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. In most of my outfits, I don't even look like I ever was pregnant, and I'm back into some favorite shirts and sweaters that I have missed dearly. I'm gonna thank breastfeeding for that, even though it still kinda hurts because her latch isn't perfect. I'm still wearing maternity jeans though because my hips are still pretty huge. I'll leave you with a picture of baby Cora and me, taken when my mom was here during week one:

It seems like almost all the babies that have been born recently (that I've heard about anyway) had their hand by their face... I didn't realize that was possible either.

I still haven't found a way to type while nursing or holding Lucia, but I do get a lot of blog reading in!

I still don't fit into any of my prepregnancy clothes and I definitely still could pass for several months pregnant. I don't really mind except I don't want to have to buy new clothes for the meantime.

My son was born with his hand up by his face as well. My midwife said he was pretty lucky he didn't break his arm because it was the arm that went under the pubic bone, which is rare. Usually when that happens, its' the other arm.

Once Cora gets a little bigger, you'll be able to nurse and type at the same time (I'm doing it now, lol.) Just hang in there. I'm sure you're doing a great job! :)